Put the focus on your feet

Maintenance: Proper mechanics can help prevent further injury

For most people, regular stretching, strengthening and maintenance of body alignment are important for improving the function of the feet and ankles.

Photograph by: Martinan
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Last night I spent an hour working with two young athletes who are struggling to play their sport due to injury. In both of these young men, the problems in their knees and ankles are related to their body position, faulty movement and poor foot function.

Over the years, many of my other clients have also had to work through problems with their feet and ankles, as well as issues in other areas, including the knees, hips and lower back, that were related to faulty foot mechanics.

Regular exercise isn't fun when you're trying to manage this kind of pain.

For most people, regular stretching, strengthening and maintenance of body alignment are important for improving the function of the feet and ankles.

Without this management, muscle imbalance, poor posture and faulty movement strategies increase the likelihood of developing more chronic, painful conditions.

It's not always the case, but problems at the ankles and feet frequently arise in people who've had recurring ankle sprains, or other injuries that weren't rehabilitated properly. As with any other joint in the body, trauma and immobility will compromise

function and increase the chances of re-injury. By bringing awareness to the importance of diagnosis, treatment and prevention, hopefully I can help many people manage ankle injuries and stop even more people from ever experiencing one.

When training and competing, always remember to perform a progressive warm-up beforehand, and be sure to get medical approval before starting a new fitness or rehabilitation program.

Knowledge Anyone can have foot or ankle issues, and there are many conditions that could be involved. Because of the number of bones in the foot, as well as the need for the ankle joint to move freely in many directions while under the load of your body, it's possible to create serious injuries from small missteps or faulty movements.

Most of us have "rolled" an ankle at some point in our lives. Most of the time there is no real injury, but serious damage can happen in a split second.

If you have suffered a foot or ankle injury, or struggle through life with pain or immobility in this area, it's definitely worth getting an accurate diagnosis of which structures are involved. With my own ankles, the hyper-mobility in the joints can allow either ankle to become misaligned when I do something as simple as jogging across the street. If I ignore the problem it can last for days or weeks and cause me constant discomfort. Usually a single joint manipulation by my chiropractor corrects the problem and I don't have any further troubles.

Treatment Ankle issues can be more common than you might expect. And you may not know it, but many people actually end up having ankle replacement surgery if the problem is bad enough.

Assuming you're not a candidate for surgery, there is a lot you can do. Depending on the exact cause of your ankle pain, you may have a slightly different treatment approach, but it's an excellent idea to start with reducing the inflammation.

This is usually done by icing the injured area, and possibly taking anti-inflammatory medications.

Sometimes the help of a good physiotherapist or chiropractor is necessary to manage the acute injury, followed by flexibility and rangeof-motion activities, as well as balance, proprioception and strength exercises.

Fortunately, there are advanced products like the Ankle Foot MaXimizer (AFX) to help properly strengthen all of the smaller muscles around the area that support the bony structures.

Prevention I used to have more trouble with my ankles and feet, but this has been reduced since I started to really pay attention to my alignment when standing and walking, and to my overall foot function. I regularly strengthen the smaller intrinsic muscles in this area, and perform as many barefoot activities as possible. Sometimes these are as simple as doing one-legged toe raises.

If you're going to try this, diligent attention to your ankle and foot alignment is essential.

Another key point is to remember to focus on balance in your training. When I get carried away with too much calf training and not enough training for the muscles in the front of my lower leg, I know I'm always at increased risk for my ankles to act up. Keeping all of the muscles in the lower leg flexible and strong goes a long way. It's also important to pay attention to your footwear to make sure that old, worn-out shoes aren't promoting poor alignment.

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